


Maybe the Hoard is the Friends we Made Along the Way

by charcharizard5



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Dragon!Merlin, Good Morgana (Merlin), Jealous Arthur, M/M, Merlin just loves his friends okay, Morgana Knows about Merlin's Magic (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:42:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27640891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcharizard5/pseuds/charcharizard5
Summary: After Balinor dies Merlin inherits his Dragonlord abilities. Though no one informed him he would be inheriting dragon traits as well.It shouldn't be too hard to hide.Until his hoarding tendencies surface.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 55
Kudos: 658





	Maybe the Hoard is the Friends we Made Along the Way

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this one ran away from me.  
> Had to muscle my way through this bad boy. It put up a good fight.  
> I hope you enjoy!

Merlin really wished his life wasn’t like this. If only Balinor stayed alive or if Kilgharrah wasn’t such an asshole he’d have someone to help him through this whole, Dragonlord thing. The one little thing they both left out, was the fact that Merlin was more or less  _ turning into a dragon _ . 

It was only a couple days after Merlin ordered the Great Pain in the Ass to leave Camelot, when he woke up with his skin feeling like it was on fire. It felt like he laid out in the sun for far too long and with each movement it was like he was tearing himself apart. Attempting to even put on a shirt that morning was agony. Staggering to his door to get Gaius, Merlin hardly made it out of bed before he passed out in pain.

He woke up moaning, the pain significantly subsided, but the ache still lingering.

“Easy now Merlin, you shouldn’t try to move too much right now,” Gaius instructed. 

Merlin just groaned in response and promptly passed out again.

Merlin woke up again, this time gaining full consciousness, blinking at the sunlight that made its way onto his face. He slowly sat up wincing as the pain still lingered on different parts of his body. Massaging his head he carefully took stock of his body. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes. He assessed everything to be in place when Gaius walked into his room with a tray full of ointments and water.

“Oh thank goodness you’re awake now. I was worried this would last longer.”

“What? Gaius what happened?”

“Well, that’s a bit of a story. First, drink water, you’ve been out for two days,” Gaius informed him.

“Two days?!” Merlin yelled.

“Yes, now keep it down. We really don’t need anyone bursting in with you looking like that.”

“Looking like --,” Merlin glanced down at his body. 

He had scales. Merlin had  _ scales.  _ He tried everything in his power to not scream. No, he just slowly turned to Gaius with a look of desperation for him to explain. 

Wincing in sympathy Gaius explained what happened while Merlin was incapacitated. He rubbed ointment onto Merlin’s scales to relieve some of the itchy sensation he didn’t realize until now.

What it boiled down to was, as a full Dragonlord, Merlin is taking on more dragon like qualities that are passed down throughout the generations. Something to do with essentially being dragon kin. Luckily it wouldn’t present itself prominently so Merlin could tack it onto another thing he could hide. He hoped.

“The readings say that you would only share a select few traits with the dragons. Nothing that seems too hard to conceal,” Gaius assured.

The scales, for one, were a bit of an issue. They covered his shoulders and faded a couple inches above his elbow, wrapped around his shoulder blades and ribs, and ran just above his collar barely peeking up his neck. Thankfully they were easily covered with a neckerchief and his clothes. 

He also discovered any strong emotions needed to be constantly in check when he properly freaked out about all of this. His hands promptly turned into claws, his teeth shifted into fangs, his eyes turned gold, though they looked like Kilgharrah’s eyes instead of his normal gold ringed irises. It took him a bit to calm down and they all went away aside from the scales, of course.

“There is only one thing that I’m a bit concerned about,” Gaius said the night before Merlin was allowed to work again.

Merlin gave him an exasperated look but urged him to continue.

“One trait that is commonly passed down is the need to hoard. Collect things.”

“Ok, but why are you worried about that?” 

“Well dragons usually take treasures or unique items. It is a very strong urge and I’m afraid if you have that tendency it’ll look like thievery. You might swipe something that isn’t yours for your own interest. You have to be careful about this Merlin,” Gaius finished.

Merlin just nodded and went to bed. 

Merlin bustled into Arthur’s chambers the next morning with his breakfast. He was a bit on edge, everything was safely hidden under his clothes, but it felt exactly like it did when he first came to Camelot. Like everyone would figure him out in an instant and he’d be on the pyre before he knew it.  _ Could I burn if I’m part dragon though?  _ Merlin just shook his head and focused on getting Arthur up for the morning. 

“Rise and shine! Time to get up!” Merlin greeted, throwing back the curtains letting in the sunlight.

Arthur groaned in retaliation as Merlin made his way over to where he slept. 

“Come on Arthur you have an early meeting this morning and training right after.” Merlin tugged on the sheets hoping it would speed up this whole process. He knew it wouldn’t, but it never hurt to try every once in a while.

Arthur cracked open one eye with a stormy look, though it quickly transformed into something else noticing it wasn’t George waking him up this morning. “Merlin!” He quickly sat up. “Ahem. I mean. Merlin, it’s good to see you well.” Arthur schooled his face into something more neutral to cover up his earlier excitement.

Merlin’s back was turned, “Yeah that sickness came and went, luckily. Glad to see you didn’t fall apart without me,” he shot a cheeky smile over his shoulder.

Arthur returned a small smile of his own, “Yes. I can, in fact, survive without you for a few days Merlin. I rather appreciated the quiet these past few days. I’m going to miss it.” He made his way over to where Merlin was picking out his clothes for the day.

Merlin snorted, “Of course. I’m sure you enjoyed George’s brass jokes and impeccable services.”

“Yes, the one about the candelabra is particularly entertaining, you could learn a thing or two from him. Your humor is something left to be desired,” Arthur shot back.

“If you’re saying George is entertaining, I think that says more about your humor than mine,” Merlin chuckled as he started to help Arthur dress.

Arthur would be the last to admit he missed Merlin, but he did. When he heard Merlin collapsed his heart ended up in his throat and it took everything in him to not immediately rush to Gaius’ workshop. He was only told it might be contagious and Arthur couldn’t see him, but Merlin would be fine after a couple days of rest. Arthur may or may not have been, less than agreeable these past few days, but now that Merlin was back he would definitely need to dole out some apologies. If Merlin caught wind that he was less than cordial to the servants he’d never hear the end of it.

Merlin tugged down the shirt over Arthur’s head and smoothed out any of the wrinkles and stepped back to admire his work. He had to admit how much he actually enjoyed caring for Arthur, and seeing him before he put up his princely façade. Something settled in him knowing that Arthur was safe the days he was gone. “Come on now, you don’t want to be late,” Merlin said. Arthur rested his hand on Merlin’s shoulder, and he tensed just a bit. Merlin’s mind raced, what if Arthur could feel the scales underneath his clothes, he had to calm himself before making it worse. Of course Arthur chose this time to be perceptive. “Are you sure you’re ok Merlin? You can rest if you need it. I don’t want you to pass out on me if you’re still not well.”

Merlin just smiled assuredly at him, “I’m fine Arthur. Just need to get back into the swing of things. I’ll be okay.”

Arthur gave him a doubtful look but decided to drop it. “If you say so,” and proceeded to list off all of the chores Merlin needed to get done while he was busy. Merlin just rolled his eyes and called him a prat.

Hiding his new dragon traits was -- surprisingly easy. He went about his daily duties about the castle like normal. Looked after Arthur, saved his life a couple times. It was just as easy, if not easier, to hide than his magic. Sometimes he startled if someone touched his shoulder or his sides, fearing they would feel his scales, so he made sure to wear his jacket or at least thick shirt to comfort him. Arthur tested his patience every now and then, and he narrowly avoided going full dragon on the man, but overall he just had to be careful about where he undressed. 

That is until the hoarding problem presented itself.

At first he didn't notice it. He was just going about his day and something in his mind said he hadn’t seen Gwen all day. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch, and the longer he left it alone the more irritated he got. So before dinner, when he finally saw her, he felt a weight roll off his shoulders. He chatted with her for a moment before bringing up Arthur his dinner with a smile on his face.

“You look happy,” Arthur commented.

Merlin smiled while starting to clean the room, “Yeah I just caught Gwen earlier, I hadn’t seen her all day so we had a quick chat while I was waiting for your dinner.”

“Oh really?”

“Yep. She told me all about--,” and Merlin went off filling Arthur in on the court gossip until Arthur finished his meal smiling quietly at his manservant. 

When Merlin finished his rambling he moved to pick up Arthur's dirty dishes. As he turned to leave Arthur grabbed his arm. He let out a small gasp and tensed slightly. 

Arthur sensing his discomfort looked at him worriedly, “Merlin?” 

“Yes?” Merlin tried to sound calm.

Arthur searched his eyes but decided he couldn’t find what he was looking for, “You forgot the fork.” He placed the utensil on the tray and Merlin just nodded and quickly fled back down to the kitchens. Arthur stayed worried until Merlin came back like nothing was ever wrong in the first place. He let it go. For now.

A couple days later, that nagging feeling told him he didn’t see Morgana at all that day. It made him fidgety, a little more so because of her magic. By the end of the night he was itching to get out of Arthur’s chambers. He sped through dressing the prince, banking the fire and just barely acknowledging that he was dismissed before he was out the door. He ran to Morgana’s chambers without a plan, but knocked on the door anyway. As soon as he saw her, he was immediately calmed. “Merlin? What are you doing here? Our session isn’t until tomorrow night.”

They were working on her magic some nights so she had an outlet, instead of repressing her magic. He calmed his breathing since he sprinted across the entire castle, “Oh, uh, of course, yeah. I was here for that. Haha. Silly me I thought it was tonight,” Merlin awkwardly chuckled, “Sorry for bothering you. I’ll, uh, just go now.” He shuffled his feet and darted back to his room. 

_ What was that? _

It all came to a head when Gwen had to leave the citadel for two days. The day she left that mild itch was back. Like if Merlin had hackles they would be raised. That night he was restless and hardly got any sleep. During the day he was extremely distracted and could hardly focus on anything. Arthur just yelled at him to stop being a bumbling fool. He spent that night tossing and turning. When he realized he couldn't sleep he started to pace in his room. As soon as that wasn’t working he made the decision to visit Gwen's home in town. He knew she wouldn’t be there until later the next evening, but something in him just needed to go. He quietly snuck past Gaius and out of the castle. He made it through the town stopping in front of her home. Something about being nearby relaxed him a small amount. He circled the home a couple of times, he unconsciously placed some protection charms, circled the home again and soon noticed the sun was coming up. He was mildly settled for now and hurried back to the castle to be on time waking up Arthur.

Arthur noticed Merlin was acting off ever since Gwen left the citadel. He was absent minded, more so than usual. He was clumsy and paid less attention than he normally did. Arthur knew his manservant had a thing for Gwen but this was getting ridiculous. As soon as they both caught wind of Gwen’s return he noticed Merlin get infinitely more twitchy and restless. 

“Merlin,” no response, “Merlin!”

“Yes?” Merlin replied, dropping the rag he was holding. He was busy furiously scrubbing the floors to keep his mind off of Gwen coming back, but it wasn’t doing much to help him.

Arthur just looked at his servant and rolled his eyes, “If you want to go see Gwen I’m not going to stop you.”

Merlin had to physically restrain himself from running as fast as he could out of the room, “A-are you sure?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to start being an attentive servant now Merlin. Go. Maybe you’ll be less empty headed after you see her. Just be back in time to bring me dinner,” Arthur dismissed him.

Merlin tried to leave like a normal person, failed miserably, and bolted down the hall to greet Gwen. 

Arthur looked out his window to see his servant dash across the courtyard to greet Gwen at the gates. Merlin stopped just short for a moment and then continued to envelop her in a hug lifting her off the ground. Something in Arthur’s chest tightened at the scene, but he dismissed it and went back to his work. 

Having Gwen in his arms settled something in Merlin. Like everything is where it’s supposed to be. Everything was in its place.

“Merlin! I’m glad to see you too,” Gwen giggled.

“Are you ok Gwen? Did you run into any trouble?” Merlin asked, searching for any signs of injury.

“Yes, yes I’m fine. I promise,” she assured.

“Ok. Let me walk you home, you must be tired. I have some free time before I have to tend to Arthur again.”

“Thank you. Let me tell you about my trip.” Gwen smiled as Merlin led them both to her home. As soon as Gwen was back in her home safely Merlin made his way back to the castle to bring Arthur his dinner.

“How was Gwen? Was her trip alright?” Arthur asked when Merlin set his dinner down.

“Yes, I walked her home and she told me all about it. It was actually pretty interesting, she--,” Arthur allowed Merlin to ramble on for a few moments while he ate a bit more of his food. For some reason he felt slightly agitated.

“Well now that she’s back you can focus on your work better. I know you’re in love with her, Merlin, but honestly, you can’t fall apart every time she goes off castle grounds,” Arthur said with a slight edge to his voice.

“What? In love? With Gwen?”

“Yes Merlin, anyone with a pair of eyes can see it.”

Merlin laughs, “Oh no no no, I am definitely not in love with Gwen. She’s lovely but, no, she’s more like a little sister to me.”

“C’mon Merlin there’s no need to lie to me. Why else would you be completely useless when she left?”

“I-,” Merlin paused in thought, “I guess, I was just worried about her?”

“Merlin. Gwen can take care of herself well enough. Better than you at least. Did you forget about Ealdor?”

“Yeah. I guess she could,” Merlin said absentmindedly.

He puttered about Arthur’s chambers quietly doing his tasks thinking about his behavior for the past few days. It was odd, he was so restless, but now,  _ everything was in its place.  _ Oh. 

Arthur noticed Merlin pause his work. He gave him a curious look and was about to call him when he started moving again, like whatever was on his mind was solved. He got up from his chair and reached for Merlin’s shoulder, but stopped just short, remembering how he reacted before and retracted his hand. Clenching his fist at his side, “Merlin are you okay. Really. You’ve been off for the past few days. You know you can talk to me.”

Merlin turned to face Arthur, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I think I was just worried.”

Arthur just gave him a concerned look but conceded, “If you say so. Just go to bed Merlin. You’re useless to me like this. Make sure you get a good night's rest. I need you to be less empty headed tomorrow.”

“R-really? You sure?”

“Yes. Go on now. Your face is annoying,” Arthur smiled.

Merlin beamed at him that made his heart jump a bit. He quickly gathered up Arthur’s dirty dishes and darted out of the room. Arthur just sighed and got ready for bed.

Merlin rushed to his room after dropping off the dishes and helped himself to Gaius’ books. He went searching through for more information on Dragonlords and their hoards. Of course Merlin couldn’t even hoard normal things. Shiny things didn’t catch his eye, books were uninteresting, rare and unique items were unappealing, not even a particularly smooth stone would hold his attention. No, Merlin of course had to hoard people. He kept reading until he fell asleep trying to figure out what to do.

He spoke about it to Gaius that morning. 

“I can’t last a day without getting agitated without seeing one of them. And if they leave like Gwen… I don’t know. She was only gone for two days! What happens if any of them leave for longer? I’d lose my mind!”

“This is troublesome. A bit worse than what I had originally thought,” Gaius commented, “For now, just, keep up what you’re doing. We can figure it out later. Get going, you don’t want to be late waking up Arthur.”

Merlin just groaned and went to tend to the prince. 

A solution presented itself a week later when he and Morgana were having one of their sessions. He was teaching her how to levitate a ribbon and tie it into a bow. It was a bit complicated, but it taught her how to better control and manipulate her magic. She picked it up quickly and was having a great time tying different ribbons into Merlin’s hair. 

“Alight, alright that’s enough for tonight,” Merlin said, swatting away another ribbon coming for his head.

“Aw, but I was getting the hang of it. Plus you look great!” Morgana cooed.

“If it’ll allow me to leave, I’ll keep one. We can continue again another night you harpy.”

Morgana relented and let him go. Merlin didn’t know when it happened, but he ended up tying the ribbon on his wrist. 

“-- Can you believe what Morgana did today?” Arthur said, strutting into the room the next night.

Merlin was carefully putting away his laundry and rolled his eyes, “No, I haven’t seen her all day,”  _ wait.  _

Arthur’s rant faded into the background as Merlin realized, he  _ hadn’t seen Morgana all day.  _ And he didn’t feel twitchy or irritated at all. “Merlin are you even listening?” Arthur huffed.

Shaking out of his thoughts Merlin tried to focus, “Yes I’m listening. But all I hear are complaints. So nothing new there I’m afraid.”

Arthur just cuffed him in the back of his head, “Just go get me dinner Merlin. Maybe you’ll find your mind somewhere in the halls, if you had one to begin with.”

“Of course,  _ Sire. _ ”

“Where did you get that Merlin?” Arthur asked, while eating dinner.

“Where did I get what?”

“That. Tied around your wrist. What unlucky lady gave that to you?”

Merlin looked down at the lavender ribbon wrapped around his wrist. Huh. “Morgana gave it to me. She, uh, had extra and forced it on me,” he said thoughtfully.

“You know she’s out of your league right Merlin?”

“What?”

“You can’t court her. It’s best to forget about it,” Arthur said offhandedly.

“I am not courting her! Absolutely not, she’d kill me first. And if not her, your father would certainly put my head on a spike, and I like where it is now thank you.” 

Arthur just raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m serious! Also why do you even care? You said the same thing with Gwen. Why are you so interested in who I’m courting?”

Arthur coughed, “I’m not,” he said pointedly eating his chicken, “I just don’t want you dying and then I’d have to find another manservant. I’m saving myself future work.”

Merlin rolled his eyes and went over and took Arthur’s tray of food.

“Wha- Hey! I’m not done!”

“Oh are you sure? You shouldn’t be eating so much Arthur. I should tell Cook to limit your portions.”

“I am not fat!”

“Whatever you say,  _ Sire. _ ”

That night in his room Merlin was investigating the ribbon. He untied it, and stared at it for the better part of the night. It had a sort of buzzing warmth to it, like it was thrumming with some sort of energy.  _ Morgana’s energy.  _ Hm.

The next day he sought out Gwen.

“Gwen I need your help for a moment!” Merlin said jogging up to her.

“Sure Merlin what do you need?” She asked.

“I was wondering if you had a piece of string, or ribbon, or something like that? The, uh, string on my tunic broke.”

“Oh um sure,” she quickly untied one of the ribbons in her hair and handed it to him, “Here you go, let me know if it's okay.”

“It’s perfect. Thanks Gwen!” He waved and excitedly retreated back to his duties.

The next day he avoided seeing both Gwen and Morgana. And that night he hardly felt anxious or twitchy. He experimented to see how long he could go without seeing them before he got restless again. It lasted about four days before he felt uncomfortable, and at just over a week it was unbearable and he had to see them immediately the next day before he paced a hole in his room. 

Ok so this was doable. Now he just needed something of Arthur’s.

Luckily getting something from Arthur wasn’t urgent. He was with the prat all day everyday, but just in case he needed to leave the citadel without Arthur, Merlin needed something. It took a bit of figuring out, but Merlin got an idea while cleaning Arthur’s chainmail. Surely he wouldn’t miss a couple links off the bottom. If anything they could easily be replaced, so no harm no foul. Merlin pilfered a string of links and made a bracelet weaving both Morgana’s and Gwen’s ribbons between them securing it around his wrist. It looked like an interesting bracelet but his sleeves covered them well enough. As long as he had these he would be fine.

Merlin really needed to stop making friends. 

It was hard enough keeping track of Arthur, Morgana, and Gwen. The general underlying anxiety of keeping them safe on top of his Dragonlord instincts was enough to run him up the wall most days. But  _ apparently  _ Merlin couldn’t help but take in a couple extra strays.

It was Gwaine first, which, okay, one more person wasn’t that bad.

Then Elyan came along. But how could he not? He was Gwen’s brother! Leaving him out would be like missing a sock. He couldn’t have one of them without the other.

And then Lancelot came back. Which of course he had to have Lance. He was the only other person who knew about his magic besides Morgana and Gaius. And he couldn’t take Lance without adding Percy. They were essentially a two for one deal.

Leon, he didn’t even  _ know  _ he added Leon to his hoard. One day, apparently Leon had to take over for someone going on patrol. As soon as he left the city Merlin almost tore the castle apart. He was frantically accounting for everyone, rushing through the halls trying to reign in his dragon appearance. He was in the courtyard pacing around trying to figure out who he was missing. As soon as he spotted Leon coming towards him everything clicked into place. Merlin rushed over to him grabbing his shoulders looking him over.

“Merlin?”

Realizing what he was doing, Merlin coughed and took a step back, “Ah, um, Sir Leon. Glad to see you’re back,” he shifted awkwardly on his feet, “How was patrol?”

“Fine. Nothing to report really. Are you okay?”

“Who? Me? Of course. Just um… Oh is that Arthur calling me? Aha. I better get going. Nice talking to you. Bye!”

Leon just looked at Merlin’s retreating figure and shook his head in confusion.

One afternoon Merlin was down at the training field assisting the knights. He was sitting to the side supposedly sharpening one of the swords. He was absentmindedly fiddling with the array of chords and links that now adorned his wrist. Currently the count went like this.

Arthur’s links with Morgana’s ribbon woven through them.

Two leather chords, one for Elyan and one for Lance, braided together with Gwen’s ribbon.

Finally, one string of links with bits from Gwaine, Percy, and Leon’s chainmail.

It was an odd assortment, but as long as it kept him sane, Merlin wasn’t complaining. 

As he was fiddling with them he noticed the leather chord from Lance was a bit frayed. A shot of panic ran through him as he hurriedly made his way to the field. 

Arthur was carefully tending to Lance on the ground when he saw Merlin run up with a worried look on his face. How he knew Lance was hurt was beyond him. “What happened?” He asked when he reached the group. Merlin immediately started to assess the situation.

“Sorry we went a little too hard and Lance here had a nasty fall. I think he might have broken something,” Gwaine recounted.

Merlin fussed over the man on the ground and tried to help him sit up. “Merlin I’m fine I promise. It’s probably just my ankle it’ll be healed in no time,” Lance assured.

“You all are going to be the death of me. Come on now let’s get you to Gaius,” Merlin immediately slung Lance’s arm over his shoulders along with Gwaine and helped him inside. Arthur pointedly ignored the fact that Merlin didn’t even flinch when Lance put his arm around him. After watching them walk away he continued training. And if he hit a little harder, no one said anything.

It was a few weeks before Lance was well again and his leather chord reverted back to its original form. Merlin was fretting over him whenever he wasn’t tending to Arthur making sure he was okay. “Merlin I’m fine, please. You can go back to tending to Arthur, he’s been glaring at me for the past hour.”

Ignoring the part about Arthur, “Are you sure? Are you comfortable? Do you need anything else?”

“I promise I’m fine. Now go before Arthur pops a blood vessel.”

Merlin hesitantly shuffles back to Arthur.

“Oh Merlin. I’m glad you decided to do your job and actually be  _ my  _ servant today.”

Merlin pouted, “I was just making sure Lancelot was okay after having his splints taken off. No need to be such a cabbagehead.”

“He had his splint off for three days Merlin. I don’t understand why you have to mother hen him so much.”

Merlin just continued to pout. He really couldn’t explain his need to make sure all his “possessions” were okay. Not that he thought his friends were his “possessions”, but having any of them hurt like that was like if someone ripped his favorite shirt, or hurt a pet. He would be upset until it was fixed or safe. 

Arthur looked at his face and sighed, “Just... he’s fine now Merlin he said so himself. No need to worry anymore. Now let’s go. I have a lot of things to get done today.”

Merlin gave him a small smile and followed Arthur to his next meeting.

If having one person hurt was enough to throw him into a tizzy, having everyone unaccounted for in the middle of a battle was enough to drive him insane.

They were in the middle of defending Camelot from the undead army raised by Morgause. Everyone was scattered about the citadel. Merlin was running around after Arthur, tripping up enemies, trying to keep pace. They made it out towards the courtyard where Morgause was waiting for them bathed in the moonlight. 

“Morgause! Stop this now! There doesn’t need to be this much violence. Innocent lives are at stake!” Arthur yelled.

“Ah. Young King. Glad to see you still alive. For too long my people have suffered at the hands of your laws. But now, you will have to suffer at my own hands!” She ran to attack him, eyes blazing with magic. Merlin was hiding behind a pillar watching his bracelets slowly rusting and fraying. He was breathing heavily, torn between protecting his hoard and suppressing his dragon instincts. That all flew out the window when he saw Morgause disarm Arthur and flung Excalibur far out of his reach.

“This is the end for you Arthur! Our kind shall rise and a new age will grow from the fields watered with your blood!” She started chanting, gathering her energy taking aim at Arthur.

In the moment she released the spell Merlin screamed, “NO!”

In that instance Merlin felt his body shift and stretch. It was agony, but he had to get to Arthur. He had to protect what was his.

After the bright flash the next thing Arthur knew was that he was on the ground. He blinked his eyes, as they adjusted he laid his eyes on a dragon looming over him. His eyes widened at the sight. It wasn’t as big as the dragon that attacked long ago, but it was still very large. Its black scales gleamed iridescently, smoke was pouring out of its mouth, a low rumble, a warning, erupted from its throat.

“Ah the great Emrys! Is this where you’ve been hiding from me? Finally coming out of the shadows to protect your little King? No matter. Now I get the pleasure to kill you both!”

Arthur saw Morgause launch another spell at the dragon. He scrambled back trying to protect himself, but the dragon just let out a ear shattering roar and spewed a column of blue flames at the unsuspecting sorceress. 

She screamed back in outrage and started chanting spell after spell, locked in a heated battle with the large beast. Arthur could only make out flashes of light and feel the heat emanating from the dragon. He prayed to any gods listening that it was on their side. 

With a final roar the dragon leapt at the sorceress and pinned her under his great talons, “You are a traitor to your own kind Emrys,” she spat, “He will never accept you. You will join me in Avalon before long,” she smirked at him, and in his rage the dragon let out another raging breath of fire rendering the sorceress a pile of ashes. 

Arthur stood stunned as the dragon looked at him with golden eyes. They looked almost, apologetic. 

However, the battle hadn’t completely ended. There were still some enemy soldiers fighting around the citadel. The dragon turned its head sniffing at the air and took off. With another loud roar it dove down to rid Camelot of the stragglers of Morgause’s army.

Arthur watched as he saw columns of blue flames decimate the undead and sent the rest running. As the sun started to shine over the horizon the dragon returned to the courtyard. Arthur and the dragon stood across from each other staring, not really knowing what to do with each other. Soon the clatter of footsteps made its way to the courtyard and the knights along with Morgana and Gwen rushed out to find Arthur and the dragon just a few paces away. The dragon noticed the newcomers and narrowed his eyes. Arthur looked behind him and signaled for them to stay where they were. 

It suddenly rushed forward towards the group. Before they could retreat, the dragon had encircled the Round Table knights including Morgana and Gwen. They all stood back to back unsure if they needed to protect themselves as it rounded them up like a herd dog. It looked down at them satisfied that they were all in the same place and made its way over to where Arthur was standing. As it got closer Arthur took a more defensive stance. It lowered its snout towards Arthur’s chest sniffing, giving him a small nudge that made him stumble a bit. 

“Hey, Hey!” Arthur yelled as it grabbed Arthur by his armor like grabbing a cat by its scruff. It carried him over to the group of friends and plopped him down amongst the others. Seemingly satisfied it nodded and encircled them a couple more times and laid down, its body encompassing them all. It rested its head on its foreclaws and stared at the group. They all stood staring back.

“Uh does anyone know what’s going on?” Gwaine asked. The group turned to look at Arthur.

“Why are you all looking at me?!”

“Um, you were the only one here with it when we arrived,” Leon said.

“I don’t know! I was fighting Morgause and she disarmed me. She was about to attack me when a bright light blinded me for a moment. When I opened my eyes this dragon was here. It defeated her, then charred the rest of her army.”

“So is it good?” Gwen asked hesitantly.

They all looked at the dragon once more. It just snorted.

“It looks like it is,” said Morgana. She went over to the head with her hand out. Its eyes narrowed for a moment, as she got nearer it pushed its snout into her hand. She smiled as she continued to pet it’s head as a contented purr rumbled through it.

“Aw it’s such a sweetheart,” she cooed.

“Yes a sweetheart that demolished an undead army and an evil sorceress. Very sweet,” Arthur said crossing his arms. The dragon turned to him and snuffed.

“Aw don’t be mean to the little beasty,” Gwaine said giving its flank a hearty pat, “It did help us after all.”

Arthur just rolled his eyes. He tried to step out of the circle of dragon, but sensing his movement the dragon tightened the circle and growled.

“I think it doesn’t want us to leave,” Elyan said.

Arthur backed off, “That’s absurd! We can’t stick around here all day.” He received another growl from the dragon. “Oh hush up you. You can’t keep us here.”

“Sire I don’t think we’re in a position to argue with a dragon,” Percival cut in.

Arthur groaned.

“Wait. Where’s Merlin?” Gwaine worriedly asked.

That got everyone’s attention, even the dragon.

Arthur frantically looked around the courtyard, or what he could see over the dragon, “Ugh move you great lump! Merlin! Where are you?” he called out.

“Wasn’t he with you Arthur?” Lance asked.

“He was. Then I started fighting Morgause and he went to hide as usual. I’m sure he’ll come around soon. He might be hiding in a closet somewhere,” he said, trying to hide the worry in his voice. Lance looked at him skeptically and then trained his eyes on the dragon. They stood around while some people warily gave the dragon a wide berth asking if they were alright. Confirming that the dragon won’t really do anything, everyone went about starting to clean up the castle. Arthur delegated orders from within the confines of the dragon. 

“Sire?”

Arthur turned to see Gaius approaching. “Gaius! I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

“Yes, are all of you alright?”

“Yes, we're fine. Other than this dragon not letting us go, I’d say we’re all in one piece.”

Gaius made eye contact with the dragon as it just huffed at him. Raising an eyebrow at it he sighed heavily and shook his head.

“Oh Gaius, have you seen Merlin? He was with me for the battle but he went to hide. Did you run into him at all?” Arthur asked nervously.

Gaius paused. He looked at the dragon and then back at Arthur, “Oh I’m sure he’s around.”

The dragon snorted at Gaius. He crossed his arms at the dragon and raised an eyebrow, “Don’t get huffy with me I don’t know what happened either. And it seems like you are not in any position for back talk.” Gaius quietly chastised the dragon out of earshot. The dragon huffed back once more.

Lance observed the interaction and walked over to where the dragon's face and Gaius was. Looking in its eyes it confirmed what he suspected earlier. He looked back at Gaius, “Gaius, you can’t be serious.”

Exasperated he just nodded. Lance looked back at the dragon, “Merlin?” he said quietly. The dragon let out a small rumble sounding a bit guilty. 

Lance chuckled, “You are in a right mess my friend. You know we have to tell them now right?” He calmly stroked Merlin’s snout, “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, we’ll figure this out. Whatever this is.”

Merlin grumbled once more, but in an annoyed acceptance. He nodded to Lance and then started to nudge Gaius into the group. “All right all right I’m going.”

“Arthur! We uh, we know where Merlin is,” Lance said, scratching the back of his head.

At this, everyone perked up and gathered around, “Really? Where is he?”

Lance awkwardly looked to Gaius, and then to Merlin, and back to Arthur, “Uh, actually, you’re looking at him.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“This here,” he said lightly patting Merlin’s head, “is Merlin...”

Arthur just stood bewildered, “This? Is Merlin?”

“Yes.”

“Lancelot are you alright? Did you hit your head?”

“No Sire. I’m fine. Just...Gaius I think you should explain.”

Arthur looked at Gaius expectantly.

“Sir Lancelot is correct, Sire. This dragon here is indeed Merlin. It’s a bit of a long story, hopefully Merlin will be able to turn back so he can fill you all in himself.”

It was a while before Gaius started to wind down the story, “I’m not entirely sure how long he’ll stay like this. Or how to get him back to normal,” he concluded.

They all sat stunned, some more so than others, looking between Merlin and Gaius. Merlin just sat there looking steadily guiltier as Gaius told his story. If anything he was a bit frustrated he couldn’t tell them all himself, tell them he would never hurt them, that he was still the same Merlin they’ve known all these years. He sadly stared at each of them, trying to convey all of this.

“Merlin?” Morgana asked, reaching out once more to pet his nose. Merlin gave her a sad grumble nudging her hand trying to tell her he’s sorry. “You should have told me,” she said plainly. “How do we turn him back?” she asked Gaius.

He shook his head, “I am not entirely sure. Though seeing as he is keeping you all here, I am assuming that it’ll have to do with his protective instincts more than anything else. As I said, you all are his hoard and his instincts are to, well, hoard you. Keep you safe. I think we need to convince his dragon instincts you are safe and, hopefully, he’ll turn back to his human form.”

They all looked at each other not knowing what to do. Arthur had been silent for the most part, still trying to wrap his head around the situation. He walked over to Merlin’s face, putting his hand next to Morgana’s on his nose. It was warm. 

He looked into Merlin's eyes, “You’re and idiot you know that?” A snort. “All this time, and in the middle of Camelot no less. I can’t believe it, not until I hear it from you. I know you can see all of us, we’re okay,” he took another step closer, “ _ I _ am okay. Nothing is going to hurt us anymore.”

Merlin’s eyes seemed to roam his entire body, as if he was assessing if Arthur was lying.

“I need you to come back to me Merlin,” he quietly urged.

They looked at each other for a just moment, and Merlin decided to believe him. Shooting one last look at his hoard Merlin’s body began to glow. Magic traveled throughout his body, reforming him into the man they all know and love. Soon Merlin, a man once more, was standing in front of them. He smiled at them before promptly passing out.

With a strong sense of déjà vu Merlin woke up in his room, his skin feeling like it’s been stretched too thin, his muscles ached and burned. He attempted to sit up, but seeing spots he surrendered to laying down for the foreseeable future. 

“Oh. You’re awake.”

Merlin cracked his eye open to see Arthur sitting at his bedside. Sitting up in a panic, Merlin covered himself up out of habit, but his body protested at the sudden movement and ended up groaning in pain.

“Don’t move so much idiot. And it’s a bit too late to start covering yourself up now,” Arthur said, helping Merlin sit up against his pillows.

“Arthur?” All of a sudden Merlin remembered everything, the battle, turning into a bloody dragon, rounding up his friends. 

“Here. Drink.” Arthur pushed a cup of water into his hands. After downing the glass Merlin asked, “What happened? I just remember turning back.”

“Well,” Arthur started, “Once you turned back, you passed out. Gaius said since it was the first time you shifted, you used a lot of your magic. We carried you back up here. Everyone has been busy with the clean up while you’ve been out.”

“And you’re here.”

“And I’m here.”

Merlin saw his claws were out, and ran his tongue along his fangs, and he knew his eyes weren’t his own. He took a calming breath and he felt himself settle and return to normal. Or as normal as he could get. “I guess I have a lot of explaining to do.” He spared a glance at Arthur.

Arthur sat up in his seat, reaching his hand out to Merlin’s shoulder, “May I?” Merlin nodded.

Arthur ran his fingers along the scales. He traced them along Merlin’s neck down his arm, “Is this why you didn’t like me- anyone touching you?” 

Merlin repressed a shudder as Arthur brushed over his collar, “I was afraid someone would feel them.”

“Who knew?”

“Gaius, Lance.”

“Not Morgana?”

“She had enough on her plate.”

Arthur’s hand made it up to Merlin’s face. He slowly stroked Merlin’s cheek wiping a tear away from his eye, “I have so much to tell you,” Merlin whispered.

“You do, but not right now. For now rest. I will be here when you wake up.”

Merlin gave him a watery smile before he fell asleep again.

A few years later

Arthur was riding back to Camelot knowing he was in big trouble. Well, he knew he was in trouble when he left, but it was a very important secret mission that he had to do. Upon his arrival at the castle the guards gave him amused looks that told him all he needed to know. Arthur dismounted his horse and gave it to the stable hand and quickly headed over to the courtyard. There he was greeted by a large black, very angry looking dragon pacing in circles until it laid its eyes on Arthur. 

Merlin towered over Arthur, he lowered his head growling.

“Hello darling,” Arthur greeted, with a pat to Merlin's nose, “How are you?”

Another thunderous rumble let out a sufficient amount of hot air to let Arthur know he was pissed.

“I’m sorry, but I had some important matters to attend to.”

Merlin just snuffed at him.

“I’m not talking to you like this Merlin. Come on. Come back to me so I can fix this.”

Merlin grumbled and slowly shifted back though not all the way. He still had the eyes and claws, but not his fangs. Fangs meant Arthur couldn’t kiss him. This meant he wasn’t  _ that  _ mad at Arthur. 

“Where the hell were you, you insufferable clotpole! I was worried sick! No one was telling me where you went, and you’ve been gone for  _ days.  _ Days Arthur!” Merlin looked as if he was about to shift again, but Arthur swooped in and gathered the hysteric sorcerer in his arms.

“It’s fine Merlin, I’m fine I promise. You have my bracelet right? You should’ve been alright.”

“Yeah but you’re my f-,” Merlin stopped himself, and just pushed his head into Arthur’s chest, his ears turning red.

“What? Merlin.” All Arthur heard was a muffled grumble in response. “Come on Merlin what were you saying?”

Merlin lifted his head and pouted, “isaidyou’remyfavorite.”

“What?”

“I said, you’re my favorite.” Merlin said reluctantly.

Arthur smiled, “I’m assuming that means something.”

“Yeah, it means you’re an annoying prat who will be sleeping on the floor if you don’t tell me where you had to go in such a hurry that you had to leave me behind.”

“I had to go visit your mother.”

“ _ My _ mother? And to visit  _ my  _ mother, you had to leave  _ me  _ behind?”

“Yes we had to discuss some things and your presence was not required.”

“And what did you need to discuss?”

“I had to ask for her permission.”

“Permi-, You’re not serious,” Merlin said with wide eyes.

Arthur just smiled at him and got down on one knee, “I am very serious.”

With tears in his eyes Merlin tackled Arthur to the ground with a kiss. “Does this mean I’m still your favorite?” Arthur asked.

“Always,” Merlin said, sniffling. He carded his fingers through Arthur’s hair, “My favorite.” 

“Now you’ll officially be mine,” Arthur smiled. 

“Technically you’re mine.”

“Not in the eyes of Camelot’s laws, so ha.”

“Prat.”

**Author's Note:**

> Not entirely happy with some bits, might come around again and edit some of my obvious battles with the dialogue and transitions. Oh well. I'll live.
> 
> Looking for another fic where Merlin loves his friends? Try my 2 part series [Leaving Scars](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863775)


End file.
